


I and Love and You

by NeverAndAlways



Series: The Winchester Family [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Childbirth, Cute Kids, Dean Swears, Domestic Fluff, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Established Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Gen, M/M, Mpreg, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 01:49:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2006421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverAndAlways/pseuds/NeverAndAlways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place after  "Ours": http://archiveofourown.org/works/1969404</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This has multiple chapters because writing "Ours" in one long page made editing a nightmare.
> 
> Comments/feedback are always appreciated! :3

Sam and Gabriel's son was four months old. They'd named him Nathaniel, and his dads were absolutely besotted with him. Especially Gabriel. For a flighty guy who'd earned himself a reputation as a troublemaker, he was an incredibly patient dad. He was often the one to get up in the middle of the night to feed or change Nathaniel, or just walk with him and rock him 'til he fell asleep. During the day, he was playful and silly: he'd make faces and sing songs to the baby every chance he got. 

Cas was also surprisingly good with the baby, and he really seemed to like him. Whenever Sam was busy or Gabriel wasn't around, he'd spend the day with Nathaniel. Dean wasn't much for sentimentality- he'd be the first one to tell you that -but it just warmed his heart to see Cas bouncing the baby on his knee, or talking to him, or telling him stories. He'd never given it much thought, but now...he could almost see himself and Cas with a little one of their own someday.

Cas seemed to have the same idea. While driving to the store one afternoon (they'd run out of diapers. It was an emergency), the angel spoke up abruptly.

"Dean?"

Dean glanced at his boyfriend in the passenger seat. "Yeah?"

"May I ask you a question?"

"I think you just did."

Cas squinted; Dean could almost hear his train of thought derailing. He laughed. "Never mind. What's your question?"

The angel blinked slowly before continuing. "Do you think we could have a child of our own?"

A heavy pause followed, filled only with road noise and the rumble of the Impala's engine.

"...Dean...?"

"Sorry, I...I hadn't really thought about it. I didn't even think you wanted kids."

"I didn't. Not for a long time. But now that Nathaniel has been born and I have gotten to know him, I've...I've changed my mind."

"That's, uh...quite a change, Cas."

"If you are averse to the idea-"

"No...! No, no. That's not what I meant. But, y'know, having a baby is a big deal."

"I am aware of that, Dean. And you seem to be avoiding the question."

"It's not exactly a yes or no answer!"

Another pause.

"...Look, uh...just gimme some time to think about it, okay?"

"...Very well."

 

Cas was unusually withdrawn for the next few days. He kept to himself, and Dean did the same. He was the first one to bed each night, disappearing from the main room with only a mumbled "I'm tired" as his explanation. Dean usually let him go, but after a few nights of this, he followed him to bed. When he entered their room he found Cas sitting up in bed, in his pajamas but wide awake, a book sitting forgotten in his lap. The angel looked up at the sound of the door.

"Hey." said Dean.

"Hello."

Dean wordlessly changed into pajama pants and a T-shirt, then climbed into bed. Both men were quiet for several minutes.

"...So." he said at last. Cas glanced at him.

"I've been thinking. A lot."

"Mm."

"And, uh...if you really think you're ready to start a family, then...I'm game." Dean turned to Cas. The angel was staring at him, his blue eyes wide.

"You're certain...?"

"Hell, yeah." Dean smiled. "If you still want to, that is."

"Of course. I just thought...never mind." Cas shook his head, and a smile bloomed across his face. He leaned over to Dean and kissed him, slow and sweet. Dean smiled into the kiss.

"Love you." he said when they pulled apart.

"And I, you."

~**  ☆☆  **~

 


	2. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years later...

"Uh-oh, here comes a big storm! Look out, Nate!"

It was a wet, gray day in early April; rain clattered on the roof of Bobby's house and dripped endlessly from the eaves. Sam and Nathaniel sat on the floor of the main room, with a block tower between them. Sam reached out  and shook the tower back and forth, whooshing loudly, until it fell with a spectacular crash. Nathaniel looked up at his dad, wide-eyed.

"Oh no...!" the little boy said solemnly. Sam laughed. Suddenly Nathaniel turned away, distracted.

"Dee! Uncle Cas!!" he crowed with delight.

"Hey buddy!" Dean appeared and crouched down beside his nephew. Cas settled wordlessly on the couch. "You stayin' out of trouble?"

"Never." Sam answered for him. They watched for a moment as Nathaniel began reconstructing his tower. Then he turned back to Dean. "...So."

"So...?"

"Cas told me you went to the doctor today."

"Jeez, does the whole world need to know?" Dean grumbled and cast a sidelong look at the angel. "What else has he told you?"

"Nothing but that. What's the news?"

Dean folded his arms and stared, stone-faced, at his brother. Sam stared back, equally solemn. It was a game they'd played since they were kids, and Dean rarely won. After a few seconds, he broke into a grin. Sam did the same.

"So are you gonna tell me, or are we just going to sit here grinning like idiots?"

Dean nonchalantly inspected his nails. "Well I had a couple tests done..."

"And?" Sam prompted.

"...And they came back positive."

"Really??"

"Yep."

"So you're-"

"Knocked up." Dean looked at his brother with barely-concealed pride.

Sam's face lit up. He looked from Dean to Cas; both men wore smiles as bright as his own. "You're pregnant??"

"Yup. In a few months, Nate's gonna have a cousin." Dean put a hand to his abdomen; under his shirt was the tiny beginning of a bump, almost unnoticable but definitely there. Sam cheered, grabbed his brother's head with both hands, and planted a kiss on his forehead. Dean let out an indignant squawk and wriggled out of his grasp. "Ew, Sammy, what the hell?!" Behind them on the couch, Cas laughed; Dean glared at him. Sam turned to him and warmly shook his hand.

"That's fantastic, guys, congratulations! Do you have a due date yet?"

"Sometime in January, I believe." said Cas, still smiling.

"What's in January?" Gabriel walked in from the kitchen with a mug of hot cocoa. Sam looked to his brother.

"You wanna tell him, or should I...?"

"Ooh, a secret, huh?" the trickster waggled his eyebrows. "Do tell."

Dean rolled his eyes. He may have learned to live with Gabe, but he still wasn't overly fond of the guy; killing someone repeatedly wasn't exactly a good way to make friends. "Not really a secret anymore..." he said. "I'm pregnant."

Gabriel grinned. "Hey, congrats, Dean-o!" he clapped Dean on the shoulder. "Now you, too, will know the joys of sleepless nights, teething, and dirty diapers."

"...Thanks."

"Daddy, look!" behind them, Nathaniel had rebuilt his tower. The little boy waited until everyone was watching, then set one pudgy hand on top of the tower. "Big 'torm!" he shouted. "Pppppbbbbbbbfffthttt!" doing his best approximation of a gale, he knocked over the tower, then clapped his hands gleefully. "Uh-oh!" he giggled.

"Uh-oh, indeed." Dean agreed.

~**  ☆☆  **~ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments/feedback are more than welcome! :3
> 
> Also, I need your help: should Dean and Cas' baby be a boy or a girl? Tell me what you think in the comments!


	3. Halfway There

It was January 15th. According to the calendar, Dean should have given birth three days ago. And yet here he was- still feeling like a beached whale, and hating it. He was sick and tired of being pregnant. Snow lay thick on the ground outside, and all he wanted to do was go out and play in it with Nathaniel (who was three years old now, and the cutest damn kid on the planet), or at least get out of the goddamn house for a while...but no. Instead he was spending the day cooped up inside- AGAIN -with nothing better to do than lay on the couch under a blanket, watch movies, and hope he'd go into labor sometime in the next century. Bobby was home, too, but he'd been giving Dean a rather wide berth, so he was more or less on his own. It was a welcome distraction when Cas, Gabe, Sam, and Nathaniel returned from their afternoon of playing in the snow. He sat up gingerly when he heard the front door slam, turning off the TV (Hatari was awful anyway, why did they even have that one?) and unearthing himself from the blanket. He heard slush being stomped off of boots, snowsuits being unzipped, hats and scarves and coats and gloves being peeled off...then the sound of little feet, and his nephew came charging into the room. The boy was clad in nothing but his long underwear, and his face was flushed pink from the cold. Dean found himself smiling in spite of his mood.

"Hey squirt! Did you have a good time out there?"

"Yeah! We played in the **snow**!"

"I can see that." Dean patted the empty space on the couch. "Why don't you come keep me company for a bit, you look frozen."

Nathaniel clambered up onto the couch next to Dean and pulled the blanket over himself, talking all the while. "We had a snowball fight, an' Daddy won 'cuz Uncle Cas fell down an', an' guess what? Daddy showed me how to make a snow angel. You lay down on the snow an' go like this-" he waved his arms back and forth above his head, as though conducting an orchestra "-but Uncle Cas didn't make a snow angel 'cuz he said he already IS a angel an' then Papa threw a snowball at him. An', an' it was really really cold." he grinned proudly.

"Sounds like you had a pretty awesome afternoon." Dean said. Nathaniel nodded. Then he looked down at Dean's belly, suddenly contemplative.

"Uncle Dean?"

"Hm?"

"Does the baby like the snow too?"

"...Um." Dean ran a hand over his belly. He definitely hadn't expected that question;  **did** the baby like the snow? It hadn't moved much all day... "I dunno, Nate." he said at last. "I don't think the baby even knows that there's snow outside."

"Oh." this seemed to satisfy the boy for a moment. Then he looked up at Dean. "When is the baby gonna come out?"

"Soon, I hope."

Sam, Gabe, and Cas entered the room. The hem of Cas' trenchcoat was soaking-wet, and bits of snow clung to his hair; Gabriel and Sam were similarly damp. Sam smiled at the sight of Dean and Nathaniel curled up on the couch. "Well, you three look cozy."

"Nah, just two. Still." Dean ruffled his nephew's hair. "But this guy's been tellin' me all about his afternoon."

"I bet he has."

Cas, having exchanged his trenchcoat for a sweater, sat down on the other end of the couch. Dean gave him a tight-lipped smile.

"Anything...?" Cas asked in an undertone.

"Nope. Would've called you if there was." Dean whispered back. "I'm restless as hel- restless as **heck** , but there's nothing goin' on. Barely even a twinge." he sighed. "I'm so tired of this, Cas."

"I know. I'm sorry, I wish there was something I could do."

"Not unless you have some kinda labor-inducing magic spell."

Cas gave him a small, sympathetic smile. Then he kissed him briefly and walked away to the kitchen. On the other side of the couch, Nathaniel wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Ewwwwww...!"

Dean raised an eyebrow at him. "Y'know, someday you might think kissing is pretty awesome."

~-~-~-~-~-~

Nathaniel stayed with Dean until dinnertime. When they were called to the table, he insisted on helping him up from the couch, despite being less than half his size. He wolfed down his dinner (which was unusual; even getting him to sit still for a meal was usually a challenge), and spent the rest of the time regaling Dean with further stories from his day. Dean, on the other hand, just picked at his dinner. He felt...weird. He couldn't relax; everything from his belly down through his legs was throbbing with a constant, dull ache. He tried to ignore the excited voice at the back of his mind whispering 'this is it this is it this is it', but at the same time...

He stood up from the table, taking his plate with him. "You guys finish your dinner," he explained, "I'm, uh...not really hungry." the plate was deposited on the counter, then he made his way slowly to the bedroom. His belly, when he put his hand against it, was hard...maybe this WAS the real thing. The bedroom door creaked open.

"It's just me." said a soft voice.

"Hey Cas." he didn't even have to look to know who that voice belonged to.

"Are you alright, Dean...? You've worried Nathaniel, not to mention the rest of us."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think; I dunno." Dean rocked back on his heels, then forward again, holding his belly. "Just...hurts."

"Are you having contractions?"

"Maybe...it's only been going on for a little while."

Cas stood behind Dean and put his hands on his belly; Dean pushed him away. "Don't." normally this would have been a source of comfort, but now, with the way he was feeling, it was just a distraction. Cas backed away, startled, and Dean let out a sigh. He gave the angel an apologetic look over his shoulder. "Let's just give it some time. See what happens."

Cas nodded his agreement. "Do you want to come back with the rest of us...?"

"In a little bit."

"Very well. If you need me, you know where I'll be." Cas slipped out of the room, leaving the door ajar and Dean alone with his thoughts.

~-~-~-~-~-~

Dean emerged from the bedroom some time later. He had changed out of his usual hoodie and sweatpants into shorts and a T-shirt, and he walked with a slightly unsteady shuffle. He ambled into the main room. Gabriel was dozing on one side of the couch; on the other side, Nathaniel scribbled furiously on a drawing pad; Sam sat cross-legged on the floor, typing away at his laptop; and Cas had tucked himself into the corner of an armchair with his nose in a book.

"Room for two more?" Dean asked, approaching the couch. Nathaniel looked up and grinned.

"Uncle Dean!"

"Hi kid." he lowered himself onto the couch between Gabe and Nathaniel. Gabriel blinked awake.

"Oh," the angel yawned, "hey Dean-o, how goes it? I hear Junior might be making his debut pretty soon."

Dean put a hand to his belly. "Maybe, maybe not. Just waiting for Junior to make the first move." he looked down at his nephew; the little boy wore a look of deep concentration as he drew, the tip of his tongue poking through his teeth. "That's a nice, uh..." he tilted his head, squinted. Deciphering a three-year-old's drawing was not unlike solving a puzzle. "That's a nice spaceship you're drawing, squirt."

Nathaniel paused in his artistic endeavors to give Dean the best withering look he could muster- which, for such a small kid, was pretty good. "It's not a **spaceship** , Uncle Dean." he said patiently. "It's a **robot**." he pointed to a patch of scribbled lines which looked an awful lot like the other scribbled lines on the page. "See? There's his head. He shoots fire." he added some sideways orange scribbles for emphasis.

"Well then. I stand corrected." Dean and Gabriel exchanged amused glances. Suddenly Dean gasped, lurched forward. Cas immediately sat up from the armchair, his book forgotten.

"Yeah, okay," Dean panted, "that was definitely the real thing." and it had felt like a punch to the gut. Only longer. And worse. He breathed steadily until the cramp subsided, then tried to sit up straight. The growing pressure in his hips made him want to curl up in a ball, but that wouldn't help anything.

"You're sure?" Cas' voice was tense.

"Yep. The stork is en route."

"...Stork...? What does a bird have to do with the process of childbirth...?"

"Never mind."

"Hey Nate?" Sam had moved over to crouch in front of his son. "Why don't you take your paper and crayons and go draw in your room for a while?" he cast a glance at Dean; until the baby arrived, it would be smarter to have Nate out of the way- for his sake, and everyone else's.

Nathaniel furrowed his brow. "But I wanna stay out here...!" he whined. "Pleeease?"

"Nathaniel John Winchester," Sam warned. "mind me, please." his face was ominous; it was a look Dean had seen before in many a Hunt, and it apparently worked just as well on three-year-olds as it did on ghosts. The boy's eyes widened. He hurriedly gathered his things, scooted off the couch, and trotted away to his room, leaving a trail of crayons in his wake.

Dean watched him go. "Impressive." he said to his brother. Sam shrugged.

"It's not him I'm worried about, Dean."

"I'll live."

Sam frowned in concern; Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Sammy, really. We both know it takes a while for things to get moving. Hell, you were in labor for a whole day before Nate was born. So just...just chill. When it starts to pick up, we'll know."

Gabriel made a show of standing up, stretching, and collecting the crayons Nathaniel had left behind. "I think I'll go keep Nate company," he said pointedly, and left the room.

~**  ☆☆  **~ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued...
> 
> As always, comments/feedback are more than welcome! :3


	4. The End

With nothing else to do, Dean and Cas settled on the couch to watch a movie. Neither one paid much attention to it, but it was a good diversion while they waited for the contractions to pick up speed- and as it turned out, they didn't have long to wait. When the movie started, Dean's labor was only noticeable when he squeezed Cas' hand now and then; an hour-and-a-half later found him moaning through a contraction every four minutes like clockwork. After one particularly tough contraction, Cas switched off the TV.

"You don't have to do that, 'm okay-" Dean panted.

"No you aren't." Cas' tone left no room for negotiation. "Your contractions are coming four minutes apart. We ought to move into the bedroom- if that is where you want to deliver."

"I'm not gonna have my baby in the middle of the goddamn house, Cas!" Dean snapped, hoisting himself stubbornly up from the couch. The sudden movement made him wince and he braced his hands against his lower back. "Just, uh...gimme a minute." Cas watched him patiently. He had been laboring for several hours now; it could very well continue for the rest of the night.

Dean stopped to lean against the wall when he felt another contraction starting up. Just as it neared its peak, a small, worried face peered around the corner and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Uncle Dean...?"

He jumped; this only made the pressure in hips worse, and a pained noise escaped him before he could stop it. The pajama-clad boy's eyes widened further.

"You got a owwie?"

Dean turned a pleading look to Cas. He couldn't answer Nate even if he wanted to- the contractions were stealing not just his breath, but his words as well -but he didn't want the kid to see him like this. Cas seemed to understand; he moved toward Nate with arms outstretched.

"He doesn't have an owwie, Nathaniel. Your uncle simply doesn't feel well, and he-"

At that moment, Gabriel came around the corner behind Nate and scooped him up with a playful growl. "Hey monster, what're you doin' out here?"

"Uncle Dean is sick, he got a owwie!" Nate pointed to Dean.

"He's okay." Gabriel assured him. "Let's get you back to bed, troublemaker." the angel mouthed a quick "Sorry" as he hurried away with his son. The moment they were out of earshot, Dean let out a loud groan and sagged against the wall.

"Son of a BITCH...!" his breath caught in his throat. "They're getting worse."

"You're doing very well, Dean-"

"Nnngh."

"-But I really think we should move to the bedroom. Sooner rather than later."

Too tired to do anything else, Dean nodded his consent and allowed himself to be led away down the hall.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 

The next contraction hit moments after they reached the bedroom. Dean yelped and curled around his belly, resting his hands on his knees; Cas put a comforting hand on his back and didn't say a word until it was over. At last, Dean relaxed- slightly -and stood up straighter.

"I'm okay..." he gasped. "We're okay." then, more quietly: "This really sucks."

"I know." Cas moved his hand in slow circles on Dean's back. "But you're strong. You have been to Hell and Purgatory, and back; you can do this just as easily."

"Glad you think so...help me to the bed."

With Cas' help, Dean eventually got settled. He tossed and turned for a while before finding a position that somewhat eased the pressure in his back and hips. Laying on his side, his upper leg resting on a stack of pillows, he was comfortable enough to stretch out along the length of the bed, and to vocalize freely through the contractions. Cas laid beside him. Face-to-face with Dean, the angel kept his breathing slow and even. Dean imitated him, and held eye contact for as long as he could. But the contractions were pulling him under like a rip current; before too long, he gave in and let himself be lost to the rhythm of it. He could feel the baby starting to descend inside him, ready to be born. It hurt. God, it hurt. He'd been shot and stabbed and who-knows-what-else, but this hurt worse than anything he'd experienced, short of Hell. He thought he knew pain, he thought he was used to it and knew how to deal with it, but this was different. This pain came from inside him, stealing the self-control he prided himself on and reducing him to tears. And it would only get worse before it got better. He was was distantly aware of Castiel beside him, and he was glad to have the angel's presence like a light at the end of the tunnel. At some point, he stripped off both his shorts and his T-shirt; even with the snow outside, the little room seemed far too hot. Once or twice he thought he heard Gabriel's voice, or Bobby's, speaking in hushed tones, but he wasn't sure if they were addressing him or Cas...

The contractions were getting longer. They came one after another, almost on top of each other, with barely enough time in between to catch his breath. They stabbed up through his back, around his belly, down through his hips. He could hear himself moaning, but it seemed far away and he couldn't bring himself to care. Somewhere, Cas was instructing him to breathe; fuck breathing, he was being pulled apart...! This was too much, he was drowning in it, and he couldn't even draw enough of a breath to say anything...but at last, the pain eased somewhat and the fog lifted.

Cas smiled at him, brushed his nose with a kiss. "Welcome back."

"Mm."

"How are you feeling?"

Dean frowned. He had heard the words, understood them, but he couldn't quite form his own words to reply...as if on cue, another contraction slammed into him. He let out a whine and shut his eyes. The pain was almost familiar now- but this time, he realized, it was different. More focused. It was as though everything inside him was narrowing to a single goal. And suddenly, he knew exactly what that goal was. His eyes flew open.

"Cas, I gotta push."

The angel snapped into action. He turned Dean over onto his back, helped him sit up, and piled pillows behind him. By the time the next contraction came, Dean was half-sitting with his hands hooked around the backs of his thighs, and Cas was sitting before him, towels at the ready. Dean and Cas locked eyes for a moment before the urge to push became too strong to resist. He took a deep breath, pulled his knees to his chest, and bore down until stars winked and flashed at the edges of his vision; then, stopping only to catch his breath, he pushed again until the contraction was over. The baby was inching downward- he could already feel the stretch of it -but there was still a long way to go.

Suddenly the door opened, breaking his concentration. It was his brother, carrying a couple of water bottles and looking apologetic. He set the bottles down next to Cas and smiled encouragement at Dean. "Almost over, Dean. Hang in there."

Dean snarled at him. He loved his brother, but damned if he was going to let Sam see him so vulnerable. "Get the hell outta here, Sam!" he growled through the building contraction. Sam jumped and hurried out of the room. By the time the door clicked shut, Dean was back to pushing. The baby's descending head stretched him even wider; he bit back a scream. When the contraction ended, Cas put a hand on his knee to get his attention.

"There's no need to hold back, Dean. You are in pain: if you need to be loud, then do so. Sam and Gabriel will understand."

Dean furrowed his brow, trying to focus enough to answer. But Cas picked up on what he was thinking faster than anyone he knew; the angel shook his head. "Don't worry about Nathaniel, his fathers will keep him calm and occupied. You only need to focus on this." he put a hand on Dean's hardened belly. Dean cracked a smile before drawing back into himself. And the next time he pushed, he let a pained shout spill from his throat and rise to bounce off the walls. It helped: as the pain tapered off, he could see Cas smiling.

"Good, Dean. I can see the child's head."

And he could sure as hell feel it. Fear was mixing with the pain in his belly. What if he couldn't do this? What if something went wrong, what if they lost the baby? What if-

" **Dean**. Focus."

His body was already tensing up to push again; he shook himself mentally and bore down with the contraction. Oh god, it hurt...he screamed, high and desperate. Cas was saying something but he couldn't hear over the blood pounding in his ears. Then something gave way inside him, and the pain exploded. Either his water had broken or his pelvis had finally cracked from the pressure...he didn't know, nor did he really care. All that mattered was getting the baby out. He pushed through the pain until it was over, then went limp against the pillows. Something touched him, something soft; he opened his eyes. Cas was using a towel to blot at a large wet spot on the bed between his legs...his water had broken, after all. Several pushes later, a powerful burning told him that the head was coming to crown. He screamed again, not caring who heard.

"There's a head!" Cas sounded astonished. Dean's heart leapt; he reached blindly down between his legs and his hand brushed against an ear, a tiny nose, a full head of hair- his baby.

"Oh...! Cas, he's-"

"I see him. Just a little longer and you'll be able to hold him."

And so he pushed again, with a long, hoarse cry. Everything seeme to run together. He was being stretched impossibly wide as the baby was turning inside him and the pain was almost blinding and he couldn't blame Sam for wanting to give up at this stage- and then it was over. He let out a loud breath and finally relaxed.

"I've got him!" Cas breathed. "Dean, I've got him, he...oh."

"'Oh'? Cas, what's going on...?" suddenly frantic, Dean craned his neck to see over his belly. "Is the baby okay? What's wrong with my son??"

"I don't know about your son..." said Castiel slowly, "but you have a very healthy daughter." he smiled like sunshine and placed her gently on Dean's bare stomach. Dean was stunned.

"A daughter...?" he repeated. They'd been so sure it would be a boy...the baby gurgled and began to cry, softly at first, then louder. He gathered her up in his arms. "Hi princess." soothed by the sound of his heartbeat, her cries turned into half-hearted whines. He smiled broadly. "We did it, Cas."

The angel shook his head, still grinning. " **You** did it." he found a small towel and used it to clean the blood and gunk off as much of the baby as he could reach without disturbing her. She made a few grumpy noises in protest of this undignified treatment, but by the time he was done she was looking around with bright, curious, impossibly-blue eyes. He stroked her cheek with one thumb. "Hello, little one." 

Dean shifted uncomfortably. "Dammit. Cas...?" Cas took one look at him and hurried off across the room to get the container they'd been saving for just this purpose. A couple of pushes later, the afterbirth was delivered and quietly dealt with, and the umbilical cord was cut. Then Dean was cleaned up and settled back into the bed, and the baby was wrapped up tight in a blanket and hat. Cas lingered for a moment, savoring the scene.

"What should we name her...?" he asked.

"Well, I was thinking maybe Luke, or Mark...guess that's out of the question, though." Dean fell silent, staring at his daughter's face. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. "...I think her name's Emma."

"Hm?"

"She looks like an Emma." he repeated, as sure as if it had been carved in stone.

Cas looked down at the baby. In his opinion, she didn't 'look like' anything but a baby...but Dean seemed so sure, he wasn't going to question it. He smiled and kissed her tiny forehead. "Emma Winchester. I like it." then he turned and kissed Dean, too, just for good measure.

"You probably oughta go get Sam before he falls apart at the seams," said Dean once they'd seperated. Cas nodded and padded away.

~-~-~-~-~-~

All eyes turned to Castiel when he walked into the main room. Under normal circumstances he would have shrunk away from this, but not today. If he could, he would have spread his wings to the sky, shouted the news for all to hear. Instead, he took a deep breath.

"It's a girl."

Gabriel cheered; Sam laughed aloud. Nathaniel, who had been curled up on the couch next to Sam, startled awake. "Uncle Dean...?" he asked blearily, rubbing his eyes. Sam put a gentle hand on his back.

"That's right, Uncle Dean. Wanna go see him?"

He considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Uh-huh."

Sam picked Nate up and settled him against his hip, and they all headed back toward the bedroom. Dean looked up when they entered the room.

"Congratulations, Dean-o!" Gabriel was the first to speak.

Sam's eyes were moist as he looked down at his brother and niece. Neither he nor Dean said a word; they didn't need to. Nate leaned out from his dad's arms to get a look at the strange little bundle his uncle was holding. "Baby...!" he declared. The baby flinched at the sudden noise and began to cry.

Sam gently shushed him. "Honey, you have to be quiet around the baby. She doesn't like loud noises."

"Ohhh." Nate clapped a hand over his mouth. "Sorry."

"That's okay. Do you want to meet her?"

"Yeah...!"

After an affirmative nod from Dean, Sam put Nate down on the bed. He scooted toward Dean.

"Hi Nate." Dean carefully tilted the baby toward him; a corner of the blanket fell away, revealing a tiny wrinkled face. Nate let out a gasp, and his eyes lit up. "Say hello to your new cousin. Her name's Emma."

"Hey squirt...!" said Nate in a stage-whisper. A ripple of laughter went around the room.

Gabriel walked around to the other side of the bed. In a rare moment of seriousness, he took a long, contemplative look at the baby. Then he looked back up at Dean and Cas, and smiled at them both. "You did good." he said sincerely.

Dean may not have been overly fond of Gabe, but he had to agree. Even with all the shit they'd dealt with over the years- and were still dealing with -he couldn't help feeling that things were going to change a lot from here on out. Hopefully, for the better. 

~**  ☆☆☆  **~ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks; hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :3
> 
> If you like, feel free to leave a comment: I'd love to hear what you thought of the story!


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